Baby Pictures
by UnknownCharm
Summary: Kagome finds a photo album which leads to her finding out about her mother's past. Also on AO3.
1. Chapter 1

Kagome sneezed as dust tickled her nose, her right hand grasping onto the wardrobe, steadying herself as she felt herself wobble. She gave a hiss as a jolt of pain shot up her left arm as it smacked into the wall. She cradled the broken appendage into her chest and gave a sigh.

"Kagome are you okay?" came the voice of her mother.

She gave a small huff as she looked to the ground where a photo book lay, "I'm fine, just tripped," she called back to her.

Kagome felt her curiosity peak at the album, picking it up, she made her way towards her mother's bed and sat on it. The soft fabric cushioned the book as she lay it down.

A hum made its way up her throat as she flipped it open to a random page, and gave a small smile.

Her baby photos!

A giggle slipped through her partially parted lips as she flipped through them. The sound was cut off however as she got to her first pictures.

"What the hell?" her eyes widened in shock as she processed what she was looking at.

Her hair was black, like normal but was tipped with white. Her eyes were completely different, showing black sclera, and golden irises with slitted pupils.

With the book in hand, she made her way down the stairs into the kitchenette, where her mother was cooking dinner.

"Mom, I have a question for you," she whispered, her knuckles turning white with the grip she had on the item.

The older woman turned around, "What is," her question stopped short as she gazed upon the photo album that her daughter held, "oh, Kagome."

She turned the stove onto the lowest setting before leading the younger of the two to the dining table. The duo sat for a minute before she began to talk.

"I was going to tell you," she started, "when you weren't so jumpy and you felt at least a little safer."

Kagome watched as her mother thought about her wording, allowing her fingers to trace the spine of the book.

"I'd originally planned to tell you on your sixteenth birthday, but you spent that in the hospital because of Him," she spat the last word out with distaste.

Kagome looked down at the floor as she remembered what had happened. The doctors had told her it was a miracle that she'd survived, given the appalling state she was in.

She had no memory of it, but her mother had told her there was a lot of things exposed that shouldn't be, from bones to the more sensitive and fleshy type of internal object.

What she did remember however was pain. Both physical and emotional.

Her hand moved to her chest as she remembered the piercing of his claws moving through her skin, the copper tang of her blood in the air. She remembered tears rapidly falling down her cheeks as her heart clenched in betrayal.

She'd screamed in denial, and then knew only the inky darkness of unconsciousness.

She had expected to die, and yet she woke up in the hospital.

"You've not been in the right mind since, I can tell. You barely sleep anymore, as though you're afraid he'll come back, and I'm worried," her mother's voice bought her out of her memories, "you're paranoid. I get that. I'd be paranoid too. It just wasn't the right time to tell you, and I'm only telling you now, because you found out first."

Kagome nodded slightly in acceptance of this statement.

"This is a long story, darling, but you don't want to hear about how I escaped prison and Martin. You want to hear about the Isles."

Kagome gaped slightly at her mother.

"Now, now, Kagome," the older woman chuckled, "listen closely."


	2. Chapter 2

A woman in what seemed to be her early twenties stumbled into an odd looking dark room. She looked around in slight confusion before slumping in defeat.

"You look like you're lost," came a monotone voice from her right, causing her to jump slightly, "are you perhaps looking for something, miss?"

"Well, I was hoping to possibly find a way home, but this definitely isn't it," she muttered, "I was thrown into this world by magic from my own and have been searching for a way back for awhile now."

He gave a nod, watching as she sat down on the available chair and threw her head into her hands.

"I see," he paused, "what is your name? I'd hate to have to keep calling you 'miss.'"

She blinked, "my name is Shiko."

"Well then, miss Shiko, are you aware of where you currently are?"

"On a chair in an office?" she joked.

His eyes rolling were almost audible, "other than that."

"Not really, no."

Kagome listened intently as her mother spoke of the Isles at her first glance, of the small town blocked off from the rest of the world named Passwall. The rest of the isles being in division, one side colourful and joyful and the other dark and quiet.

"And then I met him, the ruler of this realm, Sheogorath."

Shiko stumbled into the palace, her dark robes clashing with the interior design of the place. Taking a shaky step forward to steady herself, she looked around, noting that it represented the two halves of the world.

She took a few more steps and stopped at the foot of a throne, the man she was to see was sat on it. He seemed glad that she was there.

"He was very unique, Kagome, from what he; himself looked like to what he wore."

She was sent off to help the lands out with problems as soon as he acknowledged her. She finished most of them with little problems, apart from the Knights of Order, who slowed her down a fair bit.

"His hair, a sliver white, a matching beard on his face."

It was all too soon when he'd revealed that he and Jyggalag were the same person. The fact that he was actually a curse had been unexpected and yet it made sense.

"Eyes gold on black with slitted pupils."

She'd gotten the staff made and had been on her way back to the palace when they'd attacked. She'd dropped the staff on the ground and made her way directly into the fight, hoping to stop it.

"His teeth were a lot sharper than what you'd expect, I think he had claws too, but he might have trimmed them. I wouldn't know."

Then he'd come to fight too, it had lasted a long time, and she'd thought she wouldn't survive.

She was wrong.

"He wore a suit made of two colors. Orange on one side, purple on the other."

He'd suddenly stopped, falling over in pain, Shiko had to shield her eyes when a bright light suddenly filled the clearing. His screams of pain becoming horrible to listen to as the sound of his voice became the sound of two voices.

The sound of two voices slowly becoming distinctly different from eachother.

They were different voices now and the light had cleared.

Shiko pulled her arm down from her face and stood in shock as she saw the two beings in the clearing, both knocked out.

They'd split their bodies from eachother.

"He was charming, in his own way."

Three days passed before they woke up and began arguing, Shiko had spent those three days resting. Eventually Sheogorath managed to get Jyggalag to leave.

She spent the following three months helping him sort out his realm once more.

"You've done much for my realm, is there anything I could do to repay you?"

Her eyes clouded up in remembrance as she nodded.

"Could you help me get home?"

It took them three weeks to locate a well that radiated magic down on Nirn and after a tearful goodbye, she left their world for good.

"It wasn't until two weeks after I got back that I found out that I was pregnant with you, Kagome."

Kagome sat in stunned silence for a moment.

"So my dad," she started, "my real dad is a god in his world?"

"He's whats known as a Daedra, but yes, they are a type of god in their world."

Kagome nodded and got up, walking to the door, being careful of her arm.

"I need some time to think about this."


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken Kagome quite some time to completely digest the fact that her dad was the equivalent of a god.

From listening to her mother's story, she could tell that there some facts that she'd forgotten, she understood that, as it had been over sixteen years since she'd been to that other world.

She was left with many unanswered questions, the biggest being; would she ever meet her father?

A small part of her said that, yes, she would see him, after all, if he truly was a godlike entity, then she would have a much higher lifespan. Would this world's gods truly want her around? No, they'd likely find a way to send her to this other world in which she was conceived.

Another part of her said no, after all, there was no need for her to go to Nirn, as her mother had called it. The gods of this world hadn't made an attempt to remove her before this moment, so why would they bother in the future?

She could feel her head spinning with more and more unasked and unanswerable questions.

Would she gain any world destroying powers, and if so, should she be worried for the safety of her friends and family?

What did she really look like right now, without this illusion of what she would have been had she been human?

If he had known, what would her dad think of her? Would he like her? Love her? Would he have forced her mother to stay so she could be raised with him?

What was her father like? Was he nice?

 _What was she?_

A knock at her bedroom door startled her out of her thoughts.

"Kagome, sweetie, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Mom!"

The door opened and in stepped her mother, who closed the door behind her.

She sat on the edge of the bed where Kagome was sat.

"What do you plan on doing, once your arm heals up?"

Kagome looked down at her arm, which was still stuck in a cast.

Time felt as though it were warping into one long day, sure, she liked school, a lot more than she used to and her friends were all great. She loved her family more than anything, but something was missing in her life.

She craved the adventure that the feudal era bought to her and even though Inuyasha had tried ending her life, she still missed the rest of her group, hell, she even missed Sesshoumaru.

Kagome was certain that he wouldn't let his half brother get another attempt on her life, because although he didn't act like it, she could tell that he cared, even just a little.

Finally, Kagome looked up with a heavy sigh.

"I plan on returning to the past, if only to reclaim the jewel and defeat Naraku," her head dipped slightly "perhaps even stop Inuyasha."

She stiffened slightly as she felt a hand rest upon her shoulder, relaxing when she realised that it was just her mother.

"I understand, but promise me that you'll be safe."

She looked up at her mother with a soft smile on her face.

"I will."

After a moment of silence, Shiko stood, gesturing for Kagome to follow.

"I have something for you," she spoke, "I think that if your father knew about you, he'd want you to have it."

She felt her curiosity grow as she followed her mother into her room, a small box sat on the bed.

Kagome walked over to it and with her mother's encouragement, she opened it.

Inside lay an ornate looking necklace, it was gold with a large red gem set in the centre, likely a ruby.

"What is this?" she asked, her thumb gently rubbing over the jewel.

"This is called 'The Charity of Madness', your father gave it to me not too long after I began helping him out."

Her mother moved behind her, taking the amulet out of her hands and tying it around her neck. She could feel a warmth flow out of it, a power of some sort covering her in a slight protective blanket.

"Mom, I," she paused, feeling warm tears well up in her eyes, she flung herself into her mother's arms, "thank you."

The sound of the door opening startled them, the person in the doorway stood off to the side awkwardly.

"Did I come in at a bad time?" the voice of her younger brother pulled her out of her teared up state.

"Nah, you came at just the right time." she spoke, pulling him into a hug, in which he desperately tried to free himself from.

"Ah, you see, I wanted to know if you wanted to play something with me?" he asked her once he'd freed himself from her grip.

With a stupid grin plastered on her face, she responded with a, "why not?"

His surprise was evident as she began to walk down the stairs.

"Hey, wait for me!" he shouted, before following down.

Shiko stood, shaking her head with a smile on her face.

"Those kids."


End file.
